Caption to the above photo: Newly discovered nudibranchs — vibrant sea slugs made famous by their poisonous adaptations and importance to biomedical research — put 2015 red carpet looks to shame. This year, Dr. Terry Gosliner, world-renowned nudibranch expert, described nine colorful new species (and, together with student Carissa Shipman, the new genus Kabeiro) from the tropical waters of the Philippines, the temperate seas of South Africa, and beyond. Two jaw-dropping new nudibranch species from southern Africa — the cartoonishly bulbous Doto greenamyeri and dreamy pink-and-orange Doto splendidisima (pictured here) — were discovered during a student training expedition led by Gosliner in 2008. In terms of sea slug richness, South Africa’s diverse temperate marine environments rival those of nudibranch-packed California.
Note to self...tell Clark Pest Control to spray extra hard and long this week.